The Star's Story
by Ace Axolotl
Summary: Every Christmas, Pit prides himself on his ability to find good gifts for everyone. However, this year he is faced with the challenge of finding something special for Rosalina, a person he knows little about.


The evening sun glared right into Pit's eyes, yet did little to warm the chilled air around him. His feet were slightly sore from walking all day and the feathers on his wings were fluffed in an effort to ward off the cold. Still, there was a distinct skip in his step as he made his way home; his arms were full with bags containing books, clothes, toys, and other items, signaling a success in his mission for the day. He'd even managed to solve a dilemma he'd faced earlier that day; stuck between what scent of spa products to get for Lady Palutena. Ultimately, he decided to purchase the entire spa set centered around the 'White Citrus' scent; since it was her favorite, there was a guarantee that his goddess would like it.

Walking the winding path that let out of the neighborhoods and into the large landscape the manor resided on, he split off from the main road and headed towards the bushes once he was relatively close to the front door. The angel chose one of the larger, more unruly ones to hide his gifts in, careful to give the more delicate items the care they needed to prevent anything from breaking. With this task completed, he rushed the last few yards to the entrance, swinging the door open and glancing left to right.

Pit was thankful to see that no one was in the foyer, but a glance up the stairs showed Samus crossing the halls on the second floor. "Hey!" He called to her, catching her attention as she looked down at him. "I just finished Christmas shopping, but I need to bring the presents in. Can you check to see if Pittoo's in our room and make sure the hallway stays clear?"

The bounty hunter smiled lightly, nodding her head and disappearing down the hall. After a few moments, she returned. "The coast is clear. Do I need to shield my eyes?"

"Yes, please!" Pit hastily replied, darting out of the doorway and back to his makeshift hiding spot. He gathered the bags in his arms once more and rushed back inside, climbing the stairs, making two lefts, and arriving in the hall where his room resided. The angel swung the door open, padding across the carpet to open his closet door. In retrospect, it wasn't a very effective hiding spot, but it was the best he could do in a household with so many people, and so many curious eyes. Setting his purchases down amongst the clothes and shoes he had, Pit walking back out into the hallway. "Ok, you can look now!" He called back to Samus.

She nodded, removing her hands from covering her eyes. "Did you have a good day today?"

"You bet!" Pit grinned playfully, sticking his tongue out. "But you'll have to wait 'til Christmas to find out what everyone's getting!"

Samus sighed dramatically, feigning exasperation. "Oh, alright. I'll see if I can wait that long." She said, turning around and continuing on her way down the hall.

The angel snickered in response, returning to his room and shutting the door behind him. He crossed the thick carpet once more, pulling out a piece of paper from his back pocket, laying it across the wooden surface before taking a seat in his desk chair. Pit opened the center drawer to pull out a pen, then promptly shut it as he examined the contents of the paper. Typed on the sheet was a rather long list of names; specifically, every Smashers' name. His eyes scrolled slowly through the list, remembering the gifts he bought today and their corresponding recipients in order to draw a line through the text, marking off whom he needed to.

With such a task completed, the angel smiled to himself, re-opening his desk drawer and placing the pen and paper inside. He stood up once more, sliding his chair back in before heading back down to the dining room to see if it was time for dinner yet.

* * *

A new day meant another trip to the shopping mall and other stores around town, and Pit was just as excited as he was the day before. The angel sat at their rather small kitchen table, holding a cup of hot chocolate in his hand as he once again eyed his list of names, already brainstorming ideas for the gifts of those who hadn't yet been crossed off the list. To his right sat a plate piled high with his breakfast of donuts; he took one off the pile and munched into it. On his left sat Ganondorf, his face hidden by the newspaper the older man was engrossed in.

Pit paused halfway through his donut, eyes transfixed on Rosalina's name. The angel furrowed his eyebrows as he tried to recall details about the space princess; anything that would clue him in for gift ideas.

It seemed for the first time, he realized just how little he actually knew about Rosalina, as Pit could not think of anything suitable to give to her. He sighed, returning his half-eaten donut back to his plate and turning to the man next to him. "Hey, Ganondorf?" He prompted.

"What?" the other grunted, lowering the newspaper and his signature coffee mug, a black-painted piece with the statement '#1 FOXY GRANDPA' printed on the side. He seemed a little irritated that the angel had interrupted his reading, but Pit was unperterbed by the stand-offish attitude. He'd long since learned that Ganondorf was always at least a little grumpy.

The angel tapped a finger against the paper, indicating towards it. "Do you know anything about Rosalina? I'm trying to figure out what to get her for Christmas."

Ganondorf merely shook his head, picking his mug back up and taking a sip of the coffee inside. "What makes you think I would know more about her than you do?" He questioned, only earning a shrug from Pit. It seemed the angel hadn't really thought of that before he tried asking him.

The orange-haired male sighed. "Don't worry too much. I'm sure you'll stumble across something to give her while you're shopping for other people today."

Pit nodded his head as Ganondorf returned to his newspaper. Still, the angel's lips folded into a pout. He took pride in his ability to find good gifts for others; in some way, just 'stumbling across something' seemed synonymous with a half-hearted attempt. However, since the angel really didn't know that much about the space princess, did he have any other option?

* * *

It had been another full day of shopping, and Pit's arms once again sagged under the weight of carrying the bags of all that he'd purchased. The angel was satisfied with his haul as he walked up to the front doors of the mansion, hiding his cargo in the same bush as yesterday before he scoped out the pathway to his room, checking to make sure it was devoid of anyone. Once he confirmed that he was alone, the angel left to carry his bags up to the room.

Pit sighed, however, as he shoved the last bag among the others hidden in the closet before shutting the door. With these two days of shopping finished, he only had a few more presents to buy before he could begin wrapping them all; yet he still had no idea what to do for Rosalina, and the topic had been itching at the back of his mind all day.

He'd taken Ganondorf's advice, at least subconsciously, and kept an eye out for anything in the shops that seemed like it would appeal to the blonde-haired woman. But he'd had no luck, nothing stood out with enough brilliance to make him think, 'Wow! This would be perfect for her!'

With another sigh, the angel jumped onto his bed, resting his head against his pillow and taking a moment to enjoy the soft silence of the room. In retrospect, Christmas was still a couple of weeks away; it should have been plenty of time for him to figure something out for Rosalina. Still, the angel frowned at his own thoughts. He knew that with such a mentality, he risked procrastinating until the last minute, until it was too late and the problem had only escalated into something bigger than he could handle.

A soft knock on the door he'd left ajar shook Pit out of his thoughts. The angel looked up, making eye contact with Lucas. "Hey, what's up?" He asked.

The other boy looked away, fixing his gaze on the floor as he twiddled his fingers. "Uh, well, we're going to start decorating the tree, and we wanted to know if you want to help?"

Pit perked up. "Of course!" He exclaimed, rolling off his bed and landing on his feet, crossing the room to meet up with the blonde boy. "Let's go!" The angel barely waited for Lucas' response, practically yanking him by the arm as they walked to the living room.

The blonde didn't seem uncomfortable at all with Pit's excitement, smiling to himself as he let the angel drag him along. They moved to the end of the hall, down the stairs and across the foyer until they entered the wide open space of the living room. Sprawled along the various couches and armchairs sat Ness, Toon Link, Villager, and many of the other younger kids. Many of the older smashers were situated around the room as well, relaxing in the positive atmosphere of the room. Rosalina was among them, situated in a rocking chair and nursing a small cup of tea.

A massive green spruce tree stood in the corner, next to the roaring fireplace as it was being fussed over by Ike and Mario. The two were just about finished stringing the lights onto the tree, the blue-haired swordsmen standing atop a ladder to reach the highest point while Mario fiddled with the plugs down below.

Pit and Lucas crossed the room, the blonde taking a seat next to Ness as the angel was content with sprawling across the rug on the floor. As they waited for the two men to finish stringing the lights on the tree, Pit couldn't help but occasionally sneak glances over to Rosalina, as if her current mannerisms could clue him in on how to solve his current dilemma.

Ike grunted, climbing down the ladder and folding up the object. "Okay, ready when you are," He nodded towards Mario.

The plumber shot him a thumbs up, putting the last plug into the wall. In an instant, the tree lit up with hundreds of small white lights, the foliage glowing as a result. Mario crawled out from the bottom of the greenery, taking a moment to survey the success of his and Ike's work. "Okie-dokie," He smiled. "It's ready to be decorated now!"

"Thank you both." Rosalina said, setting her tea on a side table and standing up. The two accepted the gratitude, Mario returning to an armchair across from the TV as Ike folded up the ladder. He propped it up against the wall and exited the room.

The blue-haired swordsman returned a few moments later, accompanied by Samus as they hauled in a massive plastic container. Pit rolled out of the way as they set it down in the center of the room, popping the lid off to reveal a multitude of spheres, each of them wrapped in newspaper to prevent damage.

Pit was one of the first people to crawl over to the box, plucking an ornament from the top and unwrapping it. The object inside was painted a brilliant red, along with an ornament hook still attached from past Christmases. The angel walked over to the tree, chose a branch close to the middle, and hung the object upon it.

Others were quick to follow his lead, picking out decorations from the huge box and covering the tree from head to toe. Eventually, the box emptied and practically every branch had an ornament hanging from it. Lucas was the one to hang the last piece up, gently sliding it onto one of the few barren branches left before stepping back to admire their work along with the other Smashers.

"It looks fantastic!" Ness gushed, his voice dripping with excitement.

Rosalina nodded her head along with the boy's comment. "All we need now is the star."

"Oh!" Lucas piped up. "I think you should be the one to hang it, Miss Rosalina."

Various murmurs of agreement rose up. "That's right, stars are your thing, right? So you should be the one to do it!" A voice called out, Peach waltzing into the room with a tray of sugar cookies in hand.

The star princess in question looked among her fellow smashers, the corners of her lips turning upwards ever so slightly. If Pit squinted, he could almost make out the faint beginnings of a blush. "Well, alright then." She said.

Rosalina glided over to the almost empty bin of Christmas decorations, pulling out the last object, still wrapped in newspaper coverings. She gently unfolded the paper, revealing a massive golden star. Although the decoration was a little worn on the edges after years of usage, it still held a special brilliance as it reflected the light in the room with its shine.

The star princess dropped the newspaper wrapping back into the bucket, sliding over to the wall. She picked up the ladder Ike had placed there and unfolded it once again, setting it down in front of the tree. With the star still in hand, she climbed up the steps until she was at the very top, placing the object in it's designated spot. "How does that look?" She asked.

"Perfect!" Peach complimented, setting her tray of cookies down onto the coffee table. She snatched one of the treats from the pile, biting into it with a satisfied hum. Many others followed her lead, picking up cookies of their own.

The initial craze of tree decorating and cookie-eating was now coming to a close, the remaining smashers in the living room relaxing back into the TV watching and book reading they had done beforehand. Rosalina had climbed down the ladder and folded it back up, thankful that Ike had offered to take it back to the tool shed for her. Pit settled back onto the floor, laying on his side as he watched TV alongside Ness, Toon Link, and Lucas. However, the angel couldn't help but notice how Rosalina had taken a seat back in her rocking chair, and the blonde psychic had scooted himself closer to her, the two engaging in light conversation.

* * *

That evening, the angel had been lucky enough to see Lucas walking down the hall as he made he way to his own room. Pit saw the opportunity and took it, bypassing his own door to briskly catch up with the other boy. "Hey!" He greeted. "Talk about good timing, I've been meaning to talk to you."

Lucas flinched. "Huh? Is something wrong?"

The angel nodded his head, but his enthusiasm quickly died down once he saw the psychic's startled expression. "Oh! Uh, it's nothing dangerous or anything. I was just wondering if you could help me with something." Pit amended, thankful to see the blonde relax at his words.

"Okay, what do you need help with?" Lucas tilted his head in confusion.

"You're friends with Rosalina, right?" Pit started, leaning his back against the wall. "See, I've already gotten almost everyone else's Christmas presents this year, but I'm totally stuck when it comes to her. I don't know her that well, so I have no idea what to get her! Do you have any ideas?"

The psychic furrowed his eyebrows, thinking. "Well, I don't really know about the friend part, but she does spend a lot of time with the other kids and me. I think she just likes to dote on us, because she'll always do stuff like make us cookies and read us bedtime stories." The blonde shrugged, a faint blush coloring his cheeks. "We're all a little old for those things, but it's sort of nice, y'know, and it makes her happy, so..."

Pit nodded along, raising an eyebrow in fascination as he tried to understand what Lucas meant. The angel had never really had anyone try to baby him before, so he didn't quite grasp what was so embarrassing about it. More than anything, it just seemed to him that it was Rosalina's way of doing nice things for people.

"Ah, sorry," Lucas said, shaking the angel from his thoughts. "I kind of rambled there. About the whole present thing," He paused, pursing his lips as he thought. "She drinks a lot of tea, so I'm sure she'd appreciate it if you got her some more."

The angel pressed his lips together, thinking. Tea wasn't that bad of a gift idea, especially if it was something he knew Rosalina would enjoy, but Lucas' previous words had helped form a new idea in Pit's mind. He could only hope he'd be able to pull it off. "Alright, then! Thanks for your help!"

"Don't mention it." Lucas said.

Pit didn't reply, but gave him a nod in return. He pushed himself off the wall and turned on his heel, leaving the blonde to himself as he made his way to the library.

* * *

"Merry Christmas!" Sonic screeched, his feet pounding down the hallway at an obnoxiously loud level. Pit groaned, rolling over in his bed. After a few moments and as the noise level in the hallway increased from the complaints of other smashers, he rubbed at his eyes before cracking them open, glaring at the alarm clock that read the time as only 7:35am.

Still, a smile crept onto the angel's face as he realized that it was, in fact, Christmas morning. Pit jumped out of bed, dashing across the room to pounce on the mass of blankets on Dark Pit's bed. The other grunted in annoyance, his foul attitude escalating as the brunette ripped the blankets off. "Come on, Pittoo! Get up! It's Christmas, so the sooner you get up, the sooner we get to open presents!"

Dark Pit scowled at his lookalike. "And is there a reason we can't wait until a reasonable hour to wake up for this? It's not like we're pressed for time here." With that, he reached out to try and grab his blankets back, but Pit quickly pulled them out of his reach.

"You've got a point, but since we're already up then why wait any longer?" The brunette shot back, dumping Dark Pit's blankets onto the carpet to dash into the bathroom. A few minutes later he re-entered the room, glad to see his doppelganger reluctantly sliding out of bed. The dark-haired boy took time of his own to take care of his business in the bathroom; once he finished, both the angels made their way to the living room, still in their matching pajamas.

By the time they arrived, the area was already quite crowded, the couches almost completely full of people, each of them with mixed expressions. Some were just as excited as Sonic, waiting patiently for the festivities to begin with pleasant smiles. Captain Falcon had enthusiastically taken up the job of sorting presents, placing each smasher's gifts in piles situated next to where they were sitting.

On the other hand, quite a few others were still grumpy as a result of waking up early; in both the Links' cases, they weren't even completely awake yet. Toon Link had dozed off while waiting for everyone to situate themselves, leaning his head against the stuffed pig he'd brought downstairs with him. At the same time, Zelda had to drag the other Link by the ankle into the living room, only to dump him in the center of the floor with a huff before taking a seat next to Peach.

Pit was decidedly one of the most excited of the bunch, sitting himself in between Palutena and Dark Pit and practically bouncing in his spot. As Captain Falcon picked up another present from the pile, Pit couldn't help but notice the rectangular shape and the penguin-patterned wrapping paper. His smile grew even wider as the racer placed the present in Rosalina's pile. Though he was just as excited to see everyone else open their gifts from him, he couldn't help but feel extra anticipation for Rosalina's. He'd ended up spending much more time on it than he'd originally imagined, and the angel sincerely hoped his hard work was going to pay off.

To his left, Dark Pit snickered to himself, catching the other angel's attention. Pit followed his gaze over to Samus, one of the last few people to arrive. Held in her hand was a box of trash bags, the bounty hunter circling around the room to pick the best strategic spots for people to be on 'trash duty'; those who had to pick up the wrapping and tissue paper as smashers opened their presents. She handed ones to Roy, Fox, and Lucario before moving over to the angels' side of the room. Dark Pit's small laughs were quieted as the bounty hunter shoved a trash bag into his hands, walking off before the dark-haired boy could protest. This time, it was Pit and Palutena's turn to snicker.

As Samus grabbed a trash bag for herself and took a seat next to Pikachu, Master Hand and Crazy Hand floated into the room, the last two to arrive.

"Merry Christmas!" The two disembodied appendages announced in unison, hovering over the other smashers' heads instead of taking up more space in the comfortably crowded room.

The hands were met with mixed responses of the same sentiment before Master Hand motioned for silence. "I hope you all are ready for a big day of celebration! As for now, we've decided to do things a bit differently this year." His voice bounced off the walls. "Even if it might be a bit more thoughtful to take turns opening presents individually, there are just so many of you now that it could easily take up half the day!"

"That's right!" Crazy Hand interjected. "So now there will be two parts; we can all rip open our presents at once in a huge mass of fun, but if anyone still wants to take turns, they can wait until after the frenzy to do it."

"Sound good, everyone?" Master Hand asked. The hands were met with various signs of approval; as a result, he pointed his index finger out. "Alright then, anyone who wants to open presents now, get ready." He paused, waiting for those participating to get into position before he continued. "On your mark, get set, go!" The disembodied hand mimicked the motion of shooting a gun, and with the signal, the living room descended into chaos.

Many of the smashers on the more impatient side ripped into their gifts with gusto, several cries of joy ringing through the room. Pit himself wanted to dive into the frenzy, but the angel stopped as Palutena placed a hand on his shoulder and shook her head. "Let's be patient, okay?" The brunette gave a small pout, but did as he was asked.

Those on 'trash duty' were having both a rough and enjoyable time. Samus kept a straight face as she did her job, but Dark Pit didn't quite seem to enjoy diving into the chaos to retrieve discarded tissue and wrapping paper. Roy, on the other hand, was laughing heartily, a discarded red bow now taped to his own bright hair. The swordsman had his trash bag held out, letting others crumple up paper to try and throw it in. Quite a few missed and hit him instead, but the redhead didn't seem to mind.

Finally, after roughly ten minutes of pure chaos, the frenzy settled down and the last pieces of trash were picked up. A number of smashers still had their presents sitting in a wrapped pile, waiting to take turns (or, in Link's case, had woken up to the commotion and spent the next few minutes attempting to figure out the situation).

Now, those who had waited sat in a rough circle around the room, and as it was each person's turn to open a gift, they picked one from their respective pile, opened it, and thanked the one who gave to it them. The process was quite a bit slower, but the angel couldn't help but appreciate each time someone's face lit up with excitement. Rosalina was the last to go in the circle, yet as she picked up Pit's present from the top of her pile, Robin interrupted her. "I would save that one for last." He recommended.

The star princess seemed a bit confused, raising an eyebrow but complying all the same. She placed Pit's present back down and picked up a different one, the male tactician shooting the angel a wink. At first, Pit was a bit disappointed that Robin had intercepted; he was so excited to finally see Rosalina open his gift! However, the brunette quickly caught on to the 'save the best for last' train of thought Robin had, and sent the white-haired male a thankful smile in return.

The cycle continued as each smasher took their turns opening presents, their piles slowly dwindling down until finally, all that remained was Pit's unopened gift to Rosalina. He was practically shaking with anticipation as she gently picked it up and unfolded the wrapping.

Her eyes widened as she discovered that in her hands was a small book. It was obvious that no professional had put it together, but as she flipped through the pages in amazement, Pit glowed with pride. After a minute, Rosalina tore her gaze from the book to look at the angel. "Did you make this yourself?" She asked.

"Well, I had a lot of help from Robin." The brunette admitted with a blush. "I'm not so good at reading and writing."

The tactician in question was quick to shake his head in denial. "Don't be shy. I only helped with your spelling and grammar. Everything else is your work, and you should be proud of it."

"Ah, well," Pit paused, at a loss for words. "I just figured, that since you like stories, it would be cool to make one for you!"

Palutena pouted, turning her nose up. "What? You've never made me anything like that before."

The angel's mouth dropped open as he turned to his goddess in a panic. "Wait!" He exclaimed. "I didn't think you'd like that kind of stuff! I'm sorry Lady Palutena, I'll make you something special next time!"

A light chuckle came from the green-haired goddess as she placed a hand on Pit's shoulder. "I'm just teasing. Don't worry so much, I'll like anything you give me. It's was awfully nice of you to go through the effort to make something nice for her."

"Oh, you mean it?" The angel smile in relief. "Thanks, Lady Palutena!"

They were shaken out of their conversation by Rosalina's voice. "This really is quite the thoughtful gift." She said, still holding the book in her lap. "Thank you very much, Pit."

The angel said nothing, but grinned in return. Now that the last present had been opened, Master Hand spoke once more. "Fantastic! But before we start the rest of the day's festivities, Crazy Hand and I have one more surprise for all of you!"

Murmurs arose from confused smashers as Crazy Hand carried a massive box into the room, neatly wrapped and sporting a red bow on the lid. "Here it is! The present that opens itself!"

Before anyone had any time to register what the hand had implied, the box shook as the lid was lifted up from the inside, several gasps reverberating through the room as a a blonde head of hair peeked out from the top of the box, the arms that accompanied it throwing the lid to the floor. Cloud climbed out of the box with a scowl, unamused with the entrance the hands decided to give him.

"Hi. I'm new." He muttered, ignoring the surprised looks of everyone else to cross the room and stand on the far end, leaning against the wall.

The shock caused by Cloud's appearance was almost enough to overshadow the box from which he had climbed out of, which was still shaking with movement. A second person climbed out of the massive box, their white hair a bit disheveled as they jumped out. "I'm new, too! My name's Corrin." They said, smiling and giving a nervous wave.

"Nice to meet you two!" Peach was the first to say something. "I'm glad both of you could join us. That was quite the entrance, as well!" She chuckled.

Corrin nodded their head, looking around the room nervously. Eventually, they settled down in an open spot near Robin, taking a seat on the floor. The room lit up with discussion, many of it surrounding the sudden appearance of the two newcomers; it was, indeed, quite a surprise to have on Christmas morning.

"That's not all!" Crazy Hand's voice boomed throughout the room, silencing all chatter almost instantaneously. "There's still one more surprise for all of you!"

The box shook once more as a black haired woman in a skin-tight suit jumped out, a wicked grin on her face. "Hello, boys!" She cackled.

Pit screamed bloody murder.

* * *

 _My wooooord, this is finally done! If we're being completely honest here I should've had this finished a long time ago, but ever since my school's been out for winter break my schedule's changed, which means I haven't been writing nearly as much as I do when I actually am in school. Also, I didn't expect the fic to end up this long. Sorry if the quality is a bit lacking here, but I have to publish this thing at some point._

 _Happy Holidays!_


End file.
